ACC commish Swofford talks Notre Dame football, Orange Bowl, more

November 8, 2012 12:12 PM ET

Caught up with ACC commissioner John Swofford as he had a few minutes between meetings. He updated a few ACC-related topics.

• League officials were in South Bend on Wednesday to discuss football scheduling with Notre Dame, which is still a football independent but will play a five-game ACC schedule starting in 2014. The plan remains for Notre Dame to play each ACC school once every three years, but there could be exceptions: "We'll try to have a balance with that, but that can change as we go through a cycle."

• The league is "very close" to announcing the new Orange Bowl deal, Swofford said. Still a few legal touchups. The agreement is believed to be worth $55 million-$60 million.

• After upcoming additions of Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Syracuse, Swofford says, "I couldn't feel better about who we are."

• The ACC will consider expanding to 16 teams only if Notre Dame changes its mind and embraces the full ACC football schedule. There's no indication of that but, of course, Swofford would gladly welcome Notre Dame. "There's really no need for us to look at going any further at this point," Swofford said.

• Commissioners and school presidents are meeting next week in Denver to discuss the college football playoff. Though Swofford said figuring out revenue distribution will be crucial, he won't be surprised if this is a long process. "You want to get it right," Swofford said. "It's a 12-year period." Swofford anticipates a "significant increase in revenue" for the playoff format, and all teams involved need to be rewarded to some degree. "Really a case of balancing all that together in a fair way," he said.

Jeremy Fowler is a national college football insider with CBSSports.com. Fowler joined CBS in 2012 after covering the Minnesota Vikings for the St. Paul Pioneer Press for two seasons and covering the Florida Gators for the Orlando Sentinel for two years. Fowler is also a contributor to the CBS Sports Network.